Commission on Excellence in Special Education: Recommendations
By Tom Kertes

New York City Schools’ Chancellor Harold Levy recently testified before the Commission on Excellence in Special Education, which was established in October of 2001 to examine and make recommendations on federal, state and local special education programs and to focus on issues related to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

“With 1.1 million students, ours is the largest school system in the country,” he said. “So our experience is especially relevant. In addition, I have had a personal experience—my sister died of polio—with the school system before IDEA was enacted. Let me tell you, it was a scourge upon my family.”

“So I’m certainly for re-certification,” added Levy. “IDEA has been overwhelmingly successful. It has raised the quality of special education. However, I’m equally passionate about where it has not served the educational interests of disabled students well, the areas where improvement is necessary.”

According to the chancellor, the main problem area is misidentification, which leads to overrepresentation. “Too many kids with simple behavioral problems are classified as being in need of special education,” he said. “I believe those students would be better served by intervention/prevention programs in general education. ‘Acting out’ is not necessarily a sign of emotional disturbance.”

Rather than any systemic bias, Chancellor Levy is convinced that “overrepresentation is primarily the result of the lack of intervention services in the general education environment.” As a solution, he recommended the “whole school approach.”

“This creates a single, seamless service delivery system for all students, disabled and non-disabled alike,” he said. “They are predicated upon the belief that students are more alike than different and that integrating resources result in improved student outcomes for all. This strategy puts an end to the unhealthy and unproductive competition for resources between general education and special education, where spending can be three times higher per pupil than in general education.”

Due to this reform, the number of city public school students placed in special education has already decreased by 27 percent. At the same time, the number of children taken out of special education and put into mainstream classes has increased by 43 percent.

The chancellor’s comments were followed by the testimony of Dr. Howard Abikoff of the New York University School of Medicine Child Study Center. Dr. Abikoff spoke of the need for improved expertise by school personnel in identifying students with problems relating to ADD and ADHD.

“Right now, diagnoses are made too quickly, and often by the parents or by untrained personnel,” he said. “There is a crying need for better teacher training in identifying these conditions in order to better address the children’s specific educational needs. Schools must make better use of the school psychologist as well in this area. He or she is the best-trained on-site personnel and if he’s not, he can be best trained to facilitate identification and diagnosis of ADD and ADHD.”#

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